David Silva is still the central creative force for Manchester City

onMarch 13, 2013

Manchester City haven’t performed anywhere near to the levels and standards they set last season. Some of their players have really under-performed but none of their players have really come out as an outstanding star of the season.

David Silva was one of their star performers last season. However the Spaniard hasn’t been able to influence the game more as expected. He has scored only three goals this term and provided seven assists in the league, less than Steven Gerrard, Wayne Rooney, Theo Walcott and Juan Mata.

But he is still one of the most creative players in the league and the central driving force for his side. He has taken 43 shots on goal, less than all the other above mentioned names. In terms of key passes (80), he stands out as the best of the lot. Gerrard comes close with 74 key passes for Liverpool.

In terms of average passes per game, Silva (58.4) stands second behind Gerrard (66), but one has to understand that the Liverpool skipper plays deeper in central midfield than the Spaniard and therefore gets to make more passes than him.

In terms of distributions, Silva has a better through balls and crossing rates than Rooney, Mata and Walcott. Therefore, we can conclude, though Silva hasn’t had more assists and goals, than he would have expected, but his overall performance suggest, he is still the central creative cog in Manchester City’s machine.